User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 16 (Sub), 12 (Dub)
Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 2 | Table of Contents | Episodes 17 & 18 (Sub), 13 (Dub) Japanese title: “Regina’s Fierce Attack! Mana is Mine!” English title: “Maya’s New Best Frenemy” Last episode, Regina fought Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force for the first time. This episode is going to go deeper into her character because it’s going to focus directly on her! I’m excited because so far, Regina is my favorite villain of the season. From her very first appearance, Regina has been affably evil. She enjoys causing misery with her Jikochuu/Distain, yet she’s also playful and sometimes even has friendly interactions with the main heroines. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next! As usual, the dubbed episode starts with an added recap of last episode. DD16 01 added recap 1.png|Maya: "Maya here! We got to go on a real-life movie set..." DD16 02 added recap 2.png|Maya: "...and watch Mackenzie play the starring role of Snow White." DD16 03 added recap 3.png|Maya: "But the whole thing was almost ruined by this meanie named Regina..." DD16 04 added recap 4.png|Maya: "...who turns out to be the daughter of our biggest enemy, King Mercenare!" DD16 05 added recap 5.png|Maya: "I've got a bad feeling we're going to be seeing her a lot more!" We start off at the villains’ hideout, where Ira, Marmo, and Bel are reluctantly performing a comedy skit for Regina. In the sub, the group argues over who’s going to play the idiot because everybody wants to be the straight man. They treat the argument as a joke and bow, thanking Regina for watching. In the dub, the group argues over who’s going to give the punchline. Bel decides to say the punchline: “To get to the other side.” Like in the original version, they bow to finish the joke. Regina hates the joke, and Ira gets mad at her because she was the one who asked them to tell a joke in the first place. In the sub, Marmo says she wants to smack Regina; in the dub, she says she’s had enough of her. Bel tells Marmo that wouldn’t be a good idea because Regina is King Jikochuu/Mercenare’s daughter. Regina wants somebody more interesting to hang out with. She remembers how much fun it was watching Cure/Glitter Heart trying to defeat her Jikochuu/Distain. Thus, she decides to go make Heart entertain her instead of the other three Jikochuu/Mercenares. The opening themes and the title card play. Then, we cut to Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, and Makoto/Mackenzie walking to school. Makoto/Mackenzie is telling the other two about the work she’s gotten since her movie when Regina interrupts and apologizes for the fight last episode. Naturally, Rikka/Rachel and Makoto/Mackenzie are suspicious, especially when Regina suddenly offers to be friends with Mana/Maya. Makoto/Mackenzie even transforms into Cure Sword/Glitter Spade and gets angry at her. Sword/Spade asks how Regina can think a mere apology can make up for her destroying the Trump Kingdom/Splendorius, and Regina retorts that it was her dad that did that, not her. Then, Mana/Maya gets between Regina and Sword/Spade and stops the argument. She, Rikka/Rachel, and Dabi/Davi tell Sword/Spade to de-transform before somebody sees her. Reluctantly, Sword/Spade does so. Then, when Regina says that she and Mana/Maya are friends now, Mana/Maya agrees, albeit after some hesitation. Makoto/Mackenzie is enraged that Mana/Maya is so quick to befriend a member of the group that destroyed her world. While Mana isn’t able to come up with any counterargument except that she feels that Regina is different somehow, Maya says that it wasn’t Regina who laid waste to Splendorius and that they’ll never know whether she’s evil if they don’t give her a chance. Makoto/Mackenzie doesn’t listen and instead walks away in a huff. Mana/Maya is upset at this, so Rikka/Rachel snaps her out of it by saying that they should head off to class. Mana/Maya says goodbye to Regina, who happily returns the farewell. Before we cut to the school’s interior, the dub adds the same exterior shot that it always does. I have no idea why Saban keeps doing this, but it isn’t like it’s a bad thing. It's just confusing. DD15 08 added school.png Mana/Maya awkwardly walks into the classroom (silently in the dub; humming in the dub). She sets down her bag, sits down, and then cries because Makoto/Mackenzie is mad at her. Rikka/Rachel says that it’s perfectly understandable for Makoto/Mackenzie to be mad, given that Regina is associated with the group that destroyed her kingdom. In the sub, Rikka asks why Mana befriended Regina and Mana starts to explain; in the dub, Rachel asks how Maya would feel if her world was destroyed and Maya can’t come up with an answer. Then, Regina suddenly enters the classroom and Makoto/Mackenzie glares at her. Regina doesn’t notice. Mana/Maya walks up to her and asks what’s wrong. Regina says that she wants to play with Mana/Maya right now, but Mana/Maya says that she has school. Regina suggests that Mana/Maya just skip school so she can play with her. Then, she snaps her fingers, which magically shuts and locks the door to the classroom, locking the teacher out. In the sub, he assumes that the door is stuck; in the dub, he thinks that somebody’s purposefully locking it. In a panic, Mana/Maya swings open another door and drags Regina away. By the stairwell, Mana/Maya tells Regina that Regina can’t be in school. Regina explains that she broke into school to make Mana/Maya happy because she thought she’d like playing better than learning. Mana/Maya says that she can’t just quit school and that Regina should come back after school so they can hang out then. Regina is upset by this and petulantly teleports away. Unfortunately, Mana/Maya didn’t account for the after-school duties of the student council. In the sub, they have to get papers signed; in the dub, they have to put up posters. Regina appears right after school ends and wants to play right then. When Mana/Maya says that she has student council work to do, Regina refuses to wait and offers to fix things with a snap of her fingers. Before she can snap, Mana/Maya stops her and asks what she plans to do. In the sub, Regina says that she’s going to erase the school so that Mana no longer has any work; in the dub, Regina says she’s going to erase the office for the same purpose. Mana/Maya loudly says that she doesn’t want that at all. This makes Regina feel bad because she only wanted to help Mana/Maya. Rikka/Rachel says that if Regina really wanted to help, she’d respect Mana/Maya’s wishes, but Regina doesn’t want to hear her talk, so she summons a sticker with an X on it that attaches itself to Rikka/Rachel’s mouth. While Rikka/Rachel struggles to rip off the sticker, Regina drags Mana/Maya out of the building. We cut to Makoto/Mackenzie getting into the car with DB/Davi. This means that there’s yet more flipping. DD16 06 japanese car 1.png DD16 07 english car 1.png DD16 08 japanese car 2.png|Regina: "Faster, faster!" DD16 09 english car 2.png|Regina: "Come on, come on!" DD16 10 japanese car 3.png|Mana: "Ahh! I'm hurrying, geez!" DD16 11 english car 3.png|Regina: "Hurry!" Maya: "Not so fast! What are we hurrying for?" DD16 12 japanese car 4.png DD16 13 english car 4.png DD16 14 japanese car 5.png|DB: "Are you okay?" DD16 15 english car 5.png|Davi: "Are they friends?" DD16 16 japanese car 6.png|Makoto: "Just go, quickly." DD16 17 english car 6.png|Mackenzie: "Can we just go?" DD16 18 japanese car 7.png DD16 19 english car 7.png|Davi: "Right." Regina asks Mana/Maya where she wants to go, so Mana/Maya offers to show Regina around town. She starts to climb up some stairs, but much to her surprise, Regina uses her magic to turn the stairs into an escalator so she doesn’t have to do as much work. Then, at the top, Mana/Maya notices some trash and picks it up. In the sub, Regina wants to help her; in the dub, she thinks it’s a game and wants to play, too. Regina uses her magic to blow away all of the trash, but the wind blows the trash out of the trash cans and makes the entire street dirty. Meanwhile, Arisu/Clara tells Rikka/Rachel that she’s surprised that Mana/Maya and Regina have become friends. Rikka/Rachel wonders if Mana/Maya’s okay. Suddenly, Regina butts in and says that she is. When the two are confused, Mana says that Regina was thirsty and Mana thought she’d want some of Arisu’s tea, while Maya says that she wanted to show Regina the places where Maya spent her time. Regina sits down between Arisu/Clara and Rikka/Rachel and orders Arisu/Clara to make her tea. In the sub, Arisu agrees to make her some and tells her to wait a bit, but Regina wants her tea now. Arisu says that time is required for the black tea leaves to steam and for the flavor to be just right. In the dub, Clara asks what tea Regina wants and names many varieties and Regina says she just wants tea without everything being so complicated. Clara goes on about all of the complexities involved in making tea. Regina is bored with Arisu/Clara’s rambling. In the sub, she just grunts in boredom; in the dub, she thinks, Boring… Then, she notices that Mana/Maya is holding Ai/Dina and walks up to her. In the sub, Regina asks who Ai is and Mana says that she’s Ai. In the dub, Regina asks what Dina is and Maya says that she’s a baby and her name is Dina. Then, Mana/Maya uses Sharuru/Kippie to summon magical music notes that play music for Ai/Dina to dance to. The fairies/pixies join in and so does Regina. Arisu/Clara watches her. This makes Regina angry and she demands that Arisu/Clara get back to making her tea. While Regina continues dancing, Rikka/Rachel asks if Mana/Maya talked to Makoto/Mackenzie. Mana/Maya says that she thinks Makoto/Mackenzie is avoiding her. Regina butts in and asks why Rikka/Rachel is talking to her friend. Rikka/Rachel says that she’s been friends with Mana/Maya far longer than Regina has, but Regina interrupts her and says that Rikka/Rachel’s services as Mana/Maya’s friend are no longer needed. Then, as Mana/Maya protests, Regina drags her off again and tells Arisu/Clara to forget about the tea. The sub shows the eyecatches. Then, Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara speak with Mana/Maya at her house. Mana/Maya’s MP3 player shows the cover of Makoto/Mackenzie’s album as Mana/Maya listens to it. The cover is edited in the dub. DD16 20 makoto album.png|SONGBIRD DD16 21 mackenzie album.png|All The Way Name Change: Makoto’s album is called SONGBIRD after her song, “~SONGBIRD~”. This album was actually released in real life as a tie-in with the anime and contains 8 songs by Makoto’s voice actress. In the dub, it’s called All The Way (even though “The” shouldn’t be capitalized) and doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Mackenzie’s song that we’ve heard before. Then again, the song is never given a title… Mana/Maya burst into tears because she misses Makoto/Mackenzie. Rikka/Rachel suggests that Mana/Maya stop being friends with Regina so she can make Makoto/Mackenzie happy. Mana/Maya feels she can’t do this. Mana thinks that Regina wasn’t lying about wanting to be her friend and says that the thought of being her friend gives her goosebumps. Maya says that she’s never dumped a friend before and that Regina needs her. Rikka asks what Mana means by getting goosebumps, while Rachel says that Mackenzie needs Maya just as much as Regina does. When Mana/Maya reacts to Rikka/Rachel saying this, dialogue is added where Maya says that Rachel is right. Arisu/Clara says that Mana/Maya should explain her feelings to Makoto/Mackenzie. Mana doesn’t know how she’ll explain it, while Maya says that Mackenzie hates her and won’t listen. Rikka/Rachel says that Mana/Maya should keep in mind that Regina is part of the group that destroyed the Trump Kingdom/Splendorius. Rikka says that this means Makoto may not forgive Regina, while Rachel asks if Maya’s sure that she wants to befriend her. Mana asks if she can’t become friends with Makoto’s enemy after all; Maya asks what’s wrong with turning an enemy into a friend. Arisu/Clara say that doing so will be difficult. Mana wonders what Makoto is doing right now; Maya wonders if Mackenzie still hates her. Rikka/Rachel says that she and Arisu/Clara are going to find out by visiting her. Mana/Maya is delighted to hear this and gives Rikka/Rachel a package (containing cupcakes in the dub) for her to give to Makoto/Mackenzie. Suddenly, Regina enters and says she wants to play with Mana/Maya some more. As she drags her off to get ice cream, Mana/Maya asks Rikka/Rachel to make sure Makoto/Mackenzie gets the gift. Once she’s gone, Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara sigh in exasperation. We cut to the ice cream shop. Regina tries some ice cream and loves how it tastes. In the sub, she says that the ice cream is delicious and Mana says that this is the best ice cream shop in town; in the dub, she asks what it is they’re eating and Maya says it’s ice cream and describes it as a winter carnival in your mouth. That is the oddest description of any food I’ve ever heard. In the sub, as the two girls go to a table, Regina says that Mana is useful and Mana says she would prefer to be called “reliable”. In the dub, Regina says she likes how you can pick different colors of ice cream to match your clothes (you think Regina would choose red and black instead of pink and green, then) and Maya says that those colors are actually flavors. Mana/Maya tells Regina about her friends’ favorite flavors. Mana says that Rikka likes chocolate chip, Arisu likes mint, and Makoto likes berry. Maya instead says that Rachel likes mint, Clara likes caramel, and she thinks Mackenzie likes strawberry. Regina gets upset because Mana/Maya is still talking about other people. She thinks that since she’s Mana/Maya’s friend now, Mana/Maya should think about only her because she doesn’t need anyone else. Then, she gets the idea to get rid of everyone and everything Mana/Maya doesn’t need. Before Mana/Maya can stop her, Regina teleports away. At the moment, Makoto/Mackenzie is working on another ad for Esty or Ace Tea or whatever beverage she has a tie with. In the dub, it’s just called “Tea” like in episode 4->3. Very bland advertising there. DD16 22 makoto ad.png|Ace Tea DD16 23 mackenzie ad.png|Tea Filming finishes up, so Makoto/Mackenzie heads off to talk with Dabi/Davi. Dabi/Davi says that Mana/Maya hasn’t called yet and Makoto/Mackenzie gets mad that Dabi/Davi thought Makoto/Mackenzie cared. Then, Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara come in to deliver Mana/Maya’s present. Makoto/Mackenzie wonders why Mana/Maya didn’t deliver them herself and guesses that she’s with Regina. She confesses that she has no idea what Mana/Maya sees in Regina. Rikka/Rachel says that they don’t understand either and that Mana/Maya herself doesn’t understand. She just had a hunch that Regina really wanted to be her friend. In the sub, Arisu says that Mana often follows her heart instead of her head and uses her scolding the crab Jikochuu in episode 1 as an example. Clara instead says that Maya’s hunches are usually right and uses her asking them to join the Glitter Force as an example. In the sub, Rikka says that she still doesn’t think it’ll work out because Regina is King Jikochuu’s daughter, and Arisu asks Makoto if she’s also worried about Mana. In the dub, Rachel says that Mackenzie might be worried because Regina is King Mercenare’s daughter (gee, ya think? She literally said it earlier), and Clara asks if Mackenzie is really worried about that or if she actually fears losing Maya. Before Makoto/Mackenzie can answer, Regina suddenly jumps down and declares that she’s found them. In the sub, she says that she’s the only friend Mana needs; in the dub, she outright says she’s going to get rid of the three. Then, when a guy comes in with drinks, Regina darkens his Psyche/heart and turns him into a can-shaped Jikochuu/Distain. In the sub, Regina just tells the girls to get lost; in the dub, she delivers a great pun by telling them they’re about to get canned. Meanwhile, when Mana/Maya is running towards the studio to make sure her friends are okay, Sharuru/Kippie says that she sense a Jikochuu/Distain. Before she gets there, the other three transform. Once they’ve done so, the Jikochuu/Distain shoots soda cans at them and demands that they have his drinks. In the sub, Cure Diamond says it’s not tasty if it’s shoved down their throats and Cure Rosetta says that the Jikochuu is being selfish; in the dub, Glitter Diamond says she’s saving room for dinner and Glitter Clover says that littering is illegal. Rosetta/Clover uses Rosetta/Clover Reflection to protect the other two from the soda cans, but for some reason the shield breaks under the barrage. It’s weird because the attack has never broken before and there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special about these soda cans. Oh, by the way, the Distain has an annoying habit of saying, “Pop pop pop pop pop!” every time he shoots cans. And since that’s his only attack, it quickly gets grating. Anyway, Mana/Maya arrives and is devastated to see that her friends have been knocked over. Regina then talks to her. In the sub, Regina says she’s done so much for Mana and that Mana should repay her by stopping being friends with Rikka, Arisu, and Makoto. In the dub, Regina doesn’t understand why it’s so hard for Maya to just tell Rachel, Clara, and Mackenzie that she’s not friends with them anymore. Mana/Maya refuses, transforms into Cure/Glitter Heart, and says her catchphrase. The Jikochuu/Distains shoot more cans. Heart prepares to get hit by them, but the cans are headed for the other three warriors instead of her. Heart can’t stop them from getting hit once again. Regina says that it’s Heart’s fault that they’re in pain (in the dub, Regina says that it wouldn’t have happened if she’d ditched them like she told her to). Then, Diamond and Rosetta/Clover protest. In the sub, Cure Diamond and Cure Rosetta say that they were the ones who insisted to stay by Heart and that they’re prepared to withstand extreme hardships to stay her friends. In the dub, Glitter Diamond and Glitter Clover are more direct and say that real friends don’t toss each other aside and instead stick together no matter what. The Jikochuu/Distain shoots cans at Sword/Spade, but Heart shields her and says that if Regina were a real friend, she wouldn’t be trying to get rid of her other friends. In the sub, Regina asks why Cure Heart, her friend, is disobeying her and Cure Heart says it’s because she wants to be her friend that she’s being honest with her and trying to right her wrongs. In the dub, Regina says that Glitter Heart never wanted to be her friend and was just pretending, and Glitter Heart says that she does want to be her friend but that she wants to be friends with other people, too. Regina refuses to hear it and the Jikochu/Distain shoots more cans. This time, Sword/Spade comes forward and slashes them to bits. Cure Sword says that Regina should listen to Cure Heart since that’s what friends do; Glitter Spade says that Glitter Heart is right even if she made the wrong choice in whom to befriend. This makes Regina even angrier, but the team is unfazed. As the Jikochuu/Distain jumps forward, the girls perform Lovely Force Arrow/Togetherness Power Arrow to defeat the Jikochuu/Distain. As the drink delivery guy regains consciousness and the set is magically repaired, Heart offers to be real friends with Regina. Regina refuses and teleports away. Later that day, after the girls have de-transformed, Makoto/Mackenzie asks if Mana/Maya really meant it when she offered to still be Regina’s friend. Mana/Maya says that when she saw Regina smiling, she got the feeling that Regina wasn’t really rotten to the core. She does acknowledge, however, why Makoto/Mackenzie was so upset and says that she’s still on her side when it comes to saving her kingdom. Makoto/Mackenzie says that she’ll never forgive Regina even if she’s Mana/Maya’s friend, but that the reason she’s telling her this at all is because she’s her friend and friends should be honest to each other. Mana/Maya is so delighted to hear that Makoto/Mackenzie is still her friend that she bursts into tears again. Makoto/Mackenzie also tells Mana/Maya that she made way too much food for her as a gift (omlette rice in the sub, cupcakes in the dub), and Mana/Maya sniffles and apologizes. Back in the villains’ hideout, Regina is eating ice cream by herself. She’s still mad at Mana/Maya, but she also remembers her offering to be a real friend to her. In the sub, Regina wonders what a real friend is; in the dub, she says she could be a real friend, whatever that might be. And with this, the episode ends. Overall: This was a really engaging episode. I really liked the central conflict with Mana/Maya being torn between Regina and Makoto/Mackenzie. I liked that neither of them were shown as completely wrong and that the show hinted that Mana/Maya could eventually be real friends with them both. I believe that it’s important for kids to know that they shouldn’t abandon their friends for the sake of a new friend. I know that’s a common bullying tactic, and I like that this show is offering such good friendship advice. Fun fact: this isn’t the first time in Pretty Cure that a villain has befriended the main cast. Usually, though, it’s because the villain is trying to get something from them other than friendship, such as their transformation trinkets. This is the first time in a franchise has befriended a main character solely for the sake of friendship. Thus, rather than coming across as completely evil, Regina seems somewhat tragic. She isn’t just mistreating Mana/Maya’s other friends out of evil; she seems to have never been taught what true friendship is. Hopefully, Mana/Maya will be able to help her out with this. My only problem with the episode is that I don’t know why Regina was fascinated specifically with Mana/Maya. She wasn’t the only one who fought valiantly and successfully against her Jikochuu/Distain. In fact, the episode in which they fought her was the first time they all finished off an opponent together. The show never explains why she only finds Mana/Maya interesting and not any of the other three. Next episode: Regina steals the red Royal Crystal! Category:Blog posts